We must come to terms with the fact that population growth is a real problem for the nation

THE 2001 census recorded the UK population as 59 million. By 2011 it was 63 million. It is now estimated at 66 million. This means that since 2001 the UK has been trying to provide jobs, accommodation, welfare and public services for a population increase of seven million people, which explains why overload and insufficient capacity have become major issues. Hospitals are full, prisons are full, doctors are overloaded, queues for treatment are longer, more and more houses are never enough and local councils cannot meet the increasing demand for services.

The EU was intransigent when David Cameron asked for a brake on mass migration across Europe. He was told it was a “fundamental freedom”, or in other words, a point of dogma. The EU position would have made sense if all the member states had been affected in the same way, but that was clearly not the case. The EU open-doors policy unleashed mass migrations from Eastern Europe and population figures show that the UK was the hardest hit. In the face of such intransigence and indifference to the UK’s problems, naturally the people of the UK voted to leave the EU.

Some people, including the SNP, think that population growth is not a problem. They seem to think that our economy is booming and that we can cater for millions more. In reality, however, the UK economy is struggling and does not generate enough wealth to carry a bigger population. Scotland is no different, as the large annual fiscal deficit shows – we do not generate enough wealth to pay for the services we enjoy already, so increasing the population will only make matters worse.

The EU should help the poorer countries of Europe to raise their standard of living so that people are no longer encouraged to migrate. The EU open-doors policy has simply unleashed mass migrations from the poorer countries with no constructive benefit to those countries. It is a neo-con policy based on the assumption that maximum supply means labour is cheap and that profits are increased. The effect is seen in the proliferation of zero-hours contracts which are a sign of deteriorating conditions of employment.

A growing population means that we are constantly striving to provide the same level of living standards to an ever-larger number of people. If we cannot keep up with the increase, then living standards will decline and our environment will get worse. By contrast, a stable or smaller population means that we can raise our standard of living and provide a better environment for all of us here.

THERE is an interesting series on BBC2 at present about the rise of Hitler. Particularly interesting, and perhaps Boris Johnson supporters might be wise to take note, is the similarity between Hitler becoming Chancellor in the early1930s and immediately suspending the Reichstag before becoming dictator.

Comments & Moderation

Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here